WHO LET THE DOGS OUT?  5-20-07am    Pastor Thomas
Text: (Deu 23:18) "Thou shalt not bring the hire of a whore, or the price of a dog, into the house of the LORD thy God for any vow: for even both these are abomination unto the LORD thy God."
Intro.: Last year there was a thing they referred to as a song by the same title as this message. I’ve only heard small parts of it and don’t have a ghost of an idea what it was all about, and don’t care.
The reason preachers pick catchy titles for sermons is to get your attention. If people paid better attention, perhaps we wouldn’t need attention getters for messages. But then nothing gets the attention of a few. It illustrates my subject.
Most dogs are gregarious (friendly) creatures. In the wild they would tend to form tight families, be very clannish, stick to themselves, and fight other packs of dogs. In packs, there is always one who vies to be “top dog”, while other males wait their chance to challenge him and fight to claim the position.
Dogs raised from pups can be very loving, playful, interesting, hunters, and workers. But they are also capable of doing some disgusting things. (Luke 16:21) "Lazarus ...moreover the dogs came and licked his sores."(2 Pet 2:22) "But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again;...." Dogs left to themselves, turn to foul and disgusting things putting their noses into place others dare not do. And, dogs can be vicious and deadly.
The text is speaking of wages earned by female or male prostitutes because God detests them both. I want this expression to represent all the dogs of corruption that are out of the closet today folks and their bark is being heard all over this city, state and country.
I ask the question, who let the dogs out? When was it that the dogs began to feel comfortable with roaming freely and unashamedly among us? What gave them the freedom to do so? I say it was the developing spirit of permissiveness in our society, live and let live philosophy, their theme is “give us the freedom to do as we please no matter who it offends”. That’s what abortion, promiscuity, same sex unions, live in companions 51% of men/women not married, and unnatural sexual lifestyles is all about.
How has it happened that those who choose evil life styles have succeeded in openly shoving it in the faces of those who know that it is immoral, evil and destructive to family and to all that is decent and good? God calls such things an abomination, shall we call it any less? Shall we consider those who follow lasciviousness as a “life style,” as respectable as what God established in Eden? No. Not when God in His Bible defines what is ungodly and disgusting practices.

I. MANY ARE THE EXAMPLES OF A DECADENT SOCIETY.
Beloved, our nations is decaying one. Our local paper is awash with examples of it every day.
1. Pornography in film, television, print, and standing on the corner.
2. Places where people can go to expose their darker side along with others who are doing the same. The bars, casinos, theaters, etc. are darkened for a reason. People sort of hide.
3. Promiscuity is a way of life for so many. Nothing is considered immoral or wrong if it feels good. Situation ethics says, it may be wrong for some, not others.
4. Personal degradation has lowered the standards of many to the gutter, both men and women.
5. Problems have been created, out of which few either don’t know the solution, or are unwilling to admit the answer. Clue: the answer is a spiritual one.

II. MANY ARE THE PSEUDO EFFORTS TO CURB LEWD LIVING.
1. They are mostly surface efforts that do not address the core problem in my opinion. There are laws and statutes upon the books in increasing numbers. We probably don’t need new ones, just enforcement of existing ones.
It is said that we can’t legislate morality, but we can punish immorality and make it shameful conduct, which would encourage moral obedience to law, order and respectability. We can legislate morality, but society just doesn’t enforce it much. That’s something the individual must insist from their judges.
It is also said that you can’t teach morality except from a religious basis. Amen, now they’re getting closer to the truth, but this scares them. However, I do think morality can also be argued from a psychological and sociological standpoint too. I.e. That certain conduct is not good but self destructive and leads to unhappiness and misery.
2. There are self help groups that try to hold one another’s feet to the fire in demanding that change of behavior take place, but again it is only a superficial or temporary fix. Soon many who try these are again back in their old ways of self destruction.
3. We have motivational speakers, even some ministers, whose talks are meant to lift up the spirits of the fallen and give them hope that they can do better....if they only try harder.
Weight watchers have undoubtedly done some good, but many of those who once practiced their program have lost the weight, little by little, they soon put the pounds back on. Why? Because people love to eat. Just cutting calories doesn’t address this love of food or change ones eating behavior for a lifetime. Cutting calories proves weak and not lasting.
Quitting tobacco has many kinds of helps to curb the habit, but most of them only make the product manufacturers the richer, while the users stay hooked.
What is called recreational drugs are the evidences of a decadent society. Rehab centers are full again and again with the same patients.. Why? Because the patients did not confront the real reason that they turned to drugs in the first place.
Swearing is a nasty foul mouthed habit. Some try to quit, but if they’ve been doing this for a long time, it is a hard habit to control. Such people use profanity partly because of a poor vocabulary. If we would learn our language in school and it won’t be necessary to express ourselves in four letter words the rest of our life. Some new Christians have a hard time with conversation because they lost much of their regular vocabulary when they got saved.

III. WHAT IS THE ANSWER TO FIX THE PROBLEM?
First let me say, that it can be fixed but may not be completely fixed until we are complete in Christ both in spirit and in body. We’re saved and on the right path, but we are still in this flesh which Paul says is “sold under sin.” The only way to be totally rid of the problem is to die physically. Our new body which Jesus will one day give us, will be perfect in every way, and without these problems that we earthbound souls experience.
I am NOT setting myself up as a know it all, but as a student of the word of God, I have learned that this Holy Bible tells me from where these societal issues emanate, what the cause is, and what must be done about it.
Has the society in which we live improved since in Genesis we read their thinking was only “evil continually?” Not at all. “Thinking” has lead to more inventions about how to sin.
The real cause that people act the way they do is: SIN. It is in our genes, it is of our nature. We do wrong because our nature is sinful and corrupt.
Has the society in which we live improved any since the pre-flood days in Genesis where we read that their thinking was only evil continually? No, not at all. Such thinking has continued to plunge people into an even deeper culture of evil.
Even the poor examples of some professing Christians have worsened things as their permissiveness has increased.
People of our generation have lost the sense of shame. It is common to openly speak about their wicked way of life, gambling, perversions, addiction to pornography, cheating, and evil desires, etc. Yea, they are even boastful about their bad behaviors.
I was embarrassed by the remarks to me of a waitress in a restaurant. I notice she had a tongue stud when she spoke and I made the mistake of asking her why she wanted that. All I can say is that her answer embarrassed me. I told her she needed Jesus as her Savior. She said she believed in God, but not in church. I said, that’s not enough!
Some sinners think that they wrote the book on sin, but Paul says, Oh, no, I’m the chief of sinners. Get in line.
We can take no encouragement that we are not as bad as the next person. Truth is, we are all bad by nature, but we are capable of also doing good. Our choices are usually downhill rather that uphill ones. Our likelihood is to drift with the tide rather than go against it.
It’s easier to be bad than to be good. It won’t feel good to be good until we feel bad that we are bad, and until Jesus Christ makes us good in Himself.
Okay, the problem of our land is all about the sin question. How to deal with it, and is there any help? There’s always help for those seeking it.

IV. HOW DID WE GET THIS WAY?
There has always been poor parenting to blame and always will be. But proper parent example and proper parenting of our children is the place to start if we are going to make our society any better in the future.
Parents find it somewhat hypocritical to demand better conduct from their children than they do of themselves. And the kids know this weakness and take advantage of it.
Have any of you realized that the strict home discipline of our childhood of 50 plus years ago has gradually evolved into the permissive style of today?
Train up a child ...
Home life often had it lectures from parent or grandparent, don’t act that way it makes us disappointed in you. People won’t like you if you do that. Shame on you. And there were some penalties for bad conduct even if it only was to make us feel ashamed for what we’d done.
Most children today don’t know much about that. Just so, as they have become adults, they think they can do whatever is against the law and still come out of it smelling like a rose because mom or dad is there to bail them out. But discipline and suffering the consequences of misconduct as a child may prove to avoid some greater tragedy as an adult.
The bleeding hearts of society have done their best to lower the statutes of punishments for notorious acts of sin against others. It is possible to commit murder and get by with it, or the equivalent a mere slap on the hand. I.e. O.J.!
I don’t think it’s right to make our prisons to have so many things to make prison life more pleasant. For crying out loud, it’s supposed to be punishment.

V. TWO THINGS ARE INDISPENSABLE If we are to make our people a better people.
1, It must start in the home. The home was the first institution God established in Eden. There must be an emphasis upon honesty, truthfulness, goodness, integrity, industriousness, thrift, compassion, sensitivity, helpfulness, genuineness, family and love.
I believe the reason our world gets increasingly worse is because these values have fallen by the wayside due to the overemphasis of more money, more fun, more stuff, and more, more, more of everything but God.
The problems of society has been exacerbated because God and spirituality has been left out or given an inferior position in family life and there is little or no time for it.

2. The second important institution of God was worship for the family. We see this in the offerings which the first family’s children brought to the Lord. The importance of the right kind of worship was missed the first son, Cain, but found by Abel.
Throughout history God has been showing people how to worship and to follow a loving and just, but judgmental God. The flood of Noah’s day was punishment to an evil population. People have mostly failed to see the point ever since. And God has sent his judgments upon us through the centuries and promises that there will be one final judgment to settle everything at the end of the world.
God gave us Jesus Christ, the highest example of morality, goodness, and the best that man can be. The world KILLED HIM! It is still a hostile world toward the Almighty, and a Bible believing Baptist church. But this world is in for a hostile takeover by God someday. I say it is hostile in the sense that people will not turn things over to Him, He will have to TAKE CONTROL against their wishes. He can and will do it.
People need to wake up and discover that Jesus is the only way, the best way, and sure way to our betterment in this life and the next. Are you prepared? Get ready.
A good church cannot help any home that will not come within it walls for help or seek its Godly instruction. It will help IF people will take control in their homes and follow Biblical ideals of home and family. And it is also ESSENTIAL to have a public worship life. Worship at home is NOT AS GOOD as in a church like OURS. The only way home worship can substitute is for the home bound. Christ loved the church and gave himself for it, can we do less?
The dogs are loose and howling at the moon, but we can defeat their aggression by standing our ground for the Lord and NOT allowing them to take over and further corrupt our selves or our children.
The dogs have taken on wolf like qualities, they are out for blood and ready to devour the weak and timid among us. Who let the dogs out? Ultimately we must point the finger to Satan who is behind all evil in the world. (John 8:44) "Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it."
The only way to end the cycle of wickedness in our world is:
(James 4:7) "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you."
Young people, don’t let Satan lead the way and bring you down to the pit of destruction as he has so many in our schools. Don’t listen to his lies or be deceived by the glamour or glitter of what he directs your attention to in the world. It’s all fake and mirrors. Sin is like intoxicating wine, (Prov 23:32) "At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder."
Don’t join the many lost souls headed towards the great broad way, you’ll be sorry, (Mat 7:13) "Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:"
The way of the cross leads home, it is the way to the enrichment of you life here on earth, and the life which is eternal. Repent of your sin and believe the Gospel, how that Christ died for our sin, was buried, and rose again the third day. This Gospel is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes (trusts) it.
A fitting prayer in (Psa 22:20) "Deliver my soul from the sword; my darling (meaning myself) from the power of the dog."
(Rev 22:15) "For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie."
Dogs are used here as a metaphor. Here it refers to those whose wicked moral impurity will exclude them from heaven now, and from the New Jerusalem then.
I guess we can say dogs needn’t remain dogs, they may become the lambs whom the shepherd left the folds for. Some dogs are sheep in prospect and the Good Shepherd is today seeking to save that sheep which is lost.
Are you one of them for whom Christ is seeking to save?